November 28, 2010

Well hello there everybody! It's that time you've all been waiting for as always! My emails! yay! ha just messing! But thank you all for your support and love!  The saying really is true it takes a village to raise a man. I couldn't have had a better background or area where I lived to prepare me for this devoted service to our Lord.  So thank you all for everything you've done and the effect you've had in my life to get me where I am today.  To get me rolling into my mission with this mission.  So thank you all and I love you all very much!!! :)  I miss you all very much but am definitely not missing the weather that's for sure! Its beautiful here, if anything to hot! But i guess they say there's a hole in the ozone here over New Zealand and other areas in the Pacific so the sun burns a lot more.  So I haven't been getting tan or anything just mostly burnt if you notice from my pictures! Everyone else doesn't have to worry about that because they're all islanders!  But it's beautiful here. 

I can't believe Thanksgiving just happened back home.. Doesn't feel a thing like it's anywhere close to any of those holidays.  It's so strange! Almost like I'm in a dream!  Sis. Turner, Bishop's wife made me and my comp some pumpkin pie to give us a piece of home.  Nobody here has a clue what that is.  I brought some to Eddie's family and they've never heard of it but were so excited for something from America they loved it! haha This week was a wonderful one! Some trials, as expected but it went great and we got to see a lot of miracles.  We baptized and confirmed Casarni, Eddie's daughter.  I wanted SSSOOOO bad to see Eddie do it, but he just kept insisting i perform the ordinance.  We tried to get him to do it but he really wanted me to because I’ve been there for all of this change with their family.  So I was honored to do it but I wish that he would have! He has the Aaronic so he joined in on the confirmation and he gave a talk at the baptism so that was awesome!  I still can't get over how amazing it is to see people change their lives and the happiness that comes from allowing the Savior in their life.  They're family is completely different from when we first met them.  It's so wonderful! It's definitely choice! :) 

So ya this month I and Elder Baraniko have been working well together.  He's a funny guy, sometimes hard to talk to each other but it's all good.  He's teaching me some Kirabiti. I love hearing from you all! It just pushes me to serve with everything I have.  The support gives me ambition and determination and I thank you all!  This truly is the Lord's work. Nothing and I mean NOTHING is more rewarding than serving our master, our Father in Heaven. If you really just get lost in the work and just give all of yourself and serve you truly do feel happiness you've never felt before as you see the gospel come into people's lives.  I know the Lord is taking care of everything and everyone back home. I completely trust in his hands and have faith in him and all things. So I'll do my part and finally give back to the Lord and give him everything I've got and more. This is his time and there's nothing I want to do than serve him with all my heart, mind and strength. I love you all very much and I'm so grateful for all you have done!!! I miss you and hope you have an AWESOME week!!! OfalaAtu!! I love you all!!! :) PS yes that's a lavalava I'm wearing at the baptism. It's elder Baraniko's. Luv ya'll!!!

Kirana!!

Aloha family!! :)

 It's Elder Devey from the "real down under"! The land of the long white cloud here in the beautiful pacific in paradise!! I've seen a picture of what it looks like back home! Man oh man! I'm here in paradise in the Summer where if you get up a little bit there's ocean everywhere.  Lucky I know, except I'm in South Auckland where it's pretty rough and not so pretty.  But the weather's awesome though.  I feel bad for all of yous.  Sounds like everyone's being doing good! I'm glad! I miss you all very much and hope and pray the best for all of you.  This week was nothing short of a wonderful week, it was just awesome all around.  We had a baptism this week! 2 souls saved! Hurray!! And next week we have Eddie's daughter Casarni.  The baptism was for Ardel and Susan.  I'll attach pics.  It was beautiful.. I got to be there for her from the beginning until now.  It was so amazing to see and experience all of the process as she changed her life and found true happiness.. I baptized Susan and Baraniko baptized Ardel.  On Sunday they both wanted me to confirm both of them so I did.  It was just a beautiful weekend.  Ardel was so emotional with it all as she usually is.  It was an amazing experience and wonderful opportunity to be able to be a part of it all and to confirm them both.  Feeling the Spirit this strong out here in incredible.  There's nothing like missionary work and spreading the Lord's love to all.  You really just start to love serving with all your heart!  It's addicting!  We got a good number of investigators to church again.  We had a fireside Sunday night with Elder Nielson from the quorum of the seventy, he's over the Pacific areas.  They had a lot of musical numbers and it was amazing.  It was also Elder Baraniko's bday yesterday!  So it was just a great weekend!  Got to see a lot of blessings and witness miracles!  I love the people here.  I have a lot of fun with them.  Now that Elder Atkin's gone they act like I've been here forever, especially the little kids!  Everyone is just so friendly and loving and I've drawn really close to a lot of them.  Especially Eddie and his family.  I'm so blessed to be able to have these people that I've been able to draw close to and build relationship's with.  Or else it could be pretty lonely! But of course we always have our Heavenly Father there with us, but I love the people here.  It's been a lot of fun I've enjoyed it very much.  This mission truly is the best mission in the world!  Last month we broke our record with baptisms and got about 186 i think!  So busisness is just booming here in the Lord's work!  This month our companionship will have 3 hopefully 4, but, like Elder Atkin would say, Don't count your eggs before they hatch!  But we've had that two this last weekend and we're having Casarni this next weekend and hopefully Paora.  All the people that I've been able to be part of their baptisms so far have been Maori.  If you're wondering what they look like!  Haha i love their accents, especially the South Auckland version of it with their slang.  It's hilarious!  So we've been working hard and I've been doing my best to have as many christlike attributes as I can.  It's gonna take a long time but I know how much I've already grown so far.  I'm trying my best and hopefully I can become the man our Lord wants me to be and become that instrument in his hands that will do his will.  The mission's just an incredible experience! I can't beleive I'm out here still!  And time's just cruising by!! It's insane!!!  But I hope everything is going wonderful with everyone and I wish you all the best!  Until next week! OfalaAtu!! (Samoan for I love you.)  I love you all very much and I'm praying for you all!! Luv ya!! ps mom the dog at the end looks just like lucky! colors a little different, but acts just like her too! When her tail wags her whole body follows! haha love ya!!! :)

Elder Devey

November 15, 2010

We had mission conference yesterday in Panmura! So the whole mission came and it was an all-day thing.  Only the two lone missionaries on Niue Island didn't go haha but it was so good! 3 General Authorities came.  Elder Hinckley, President Hinckley's son came and two others from the first quorum of the seventy.  This last month our mission has been breaking records.  It was such a fun, motivating experience all yesterday.  But things are still going great here!  I miss you all very much and can’t wait for these Christmas gifts haha.

This week is going to be a big week.  Ardel and Susan's baptism are this weekend.  It's been incredible to see her life change.  We really have done everything we can for her.  I've given her things that will help her, like a picture of Jesus and books and such.  We teach her every day.  She truly was a miracle; we do service for her a lot to.  It was amazing how we were an answer to her prayer, and now she's completely changed and her life has flipped around for the good.  It makes everything so worth it to see someone change their life by allowing Christ to come in their lives.  She's been doing so well.  We had her baptismal interview last week and when she came out she was crying and she ran to us and hugged us. (yes i know we can’t hug girls but we couldn't stop it.) And she just said thank you for everything.. It was amazing to see.  So we're defiantly excited for this weekend!! She can't wait either. 

The next week we have Paora and Casarni set for baptism.  Eddie's brother and daughter.  Casarni's good to go but we're having troubles with Pa.  He can't get over smoking.  We've been helping him in everywhere we can but it's really hard for him.  He truly does have a strong testimony and strong faith but Satan has him in his grasps.  So we're doing our best to get him outta there! But Sunday went good again.  Poor elder Atkin, that was our biggest challenge getting everyone to church and now I and Baraniko are having heaps of success.  We got 7 this time.  It was stake conference and President Porter was there to talk so we got to have stake conference with him and than mission conference the next day.  It's so great to listen to our President speak.  He's such a great president i love him very much.  The ward's finally starting to give us good fellowship for the people we're teaching.  When I told Elder Atkin all of this at the mission conference he was very upset.  Because the whole 7 months he was here he had troubles with these things and now we're being blessed by our merciful Lord.  It was way funny.  Good guy I miss him a lot.  But Elder Baraniko has been out for about a year and seven months.  It must be because of him and his faith why we're having all these blessings.  Good guy! I've been learning Kiribati from him crazy language! It can be hard to talk to him at times but it's mostly just pretty funny.  I love being with him.

 Eddie asked me to baptize Casarni because he says it will mean a lot to him.  I love Eddie and his family I have a lot of fun when we're over there.  Even though that little area is possibly the worst area in south Auckland.  We're seeing Eddies seed of faith growing and affecting his family and those around him.  That area has a bunch of punk kids who even claim to be members of the Krips and Blood gangs and stuff, it's ridiculous.  But anyways they used to always say dumb stuff to us but now they know our names and they're nice to us because we've had them come play touch with us.  So it's just cool to see how even if we're not teaching people, our presence and other's faith starts to affect others.

 I love everything about missionary work! It's been great! I've learned so much and I've grown so much as a person as well.  Just in these 2 and a half months.  I can't believe it's already been that much.  Feels just like yesterday when I opened my call.  Time fly’s by so fast it's unreal.  But I'm loving every second of it.  Being able to serve the Lord in this great cause and wonderful work.  I couldn't be more blessed than I am right now.  Sunday night 4 missionaries who traveled a long way stayed at our flat for mission conference the next day.  That was a fun night we played games and I got to get to know them.  There's such wonderful people out here in this mission and especially here in New Zealand.  I love serving these people.  They're love, belief, culture, accents, and food, all of it!! It's just so awesome!!  The legit Maoris are probably my favorite.  Eddie and his Fam are Maori.  Some are big but they’re not, but their accents awesome.  The Maori slang is hilarious though.  How all the kids talk its way funny!  But I've gotten good at it; I can pretty much tell where people are from just how they look.  Whether Fiji, cook islands, Tongan, Samoan, i can pretty much get it.  I know hello, thank you all that in some of the languages just when I'm getting to know someone.  It's so fun just getting to know other people and just to be and instrument in the Lord's hands.  It's truly amazing!! I miss and love you all very much!!!

November 7, 2010

That was hello in Kiribiti! Don't know if you ever heard of that island, i sure havent! My new companion is Elder Baraniko, he's from there!  He's pretty FOB(fresh off the boat) meaning he can speak english but not that good! haha so there's a bit of a language barrier between us.  But it's fun! He's a great guy!  I hate to see Elder Atkin go, we grew very close and had a lot of fun.  We had a lot in common.  We'd always do jokes from the office or nacho and stuff like that, great guy!  But he went to be a district leader in Whangerei.  Up north, one of the most beautiful areas you can serve in lucky guy!  But I'm definantely looking forward to this next transfer with elder Baraniko.  It was fun having to hold the fort down and teach him the area and keep the work moving forward.  I guess transfer week is usually slow because of the changes, but we actually did really good!  And the bane of mine and elder Atkin's existence with church attendance all of the sudden was a miracle this week.  We'd been getting 1s and 3s to church and all of the sudden we had 11 this sunday!  All of our sets came and more! It was wonderful, I've never seen our chapel that full either.  There were heaps of people there it was a miracle!  Good stuff! 

Things have been really fun, it's so much fun when you work really hard.  I've been lovin it! And i didn't mean to freak everyone out with my last email.  That's not what I meant at all with sacrificing like crazy.  That was just our zone focus and it was like little things! ha I'm working hard im not starvin myself people! haha But this week was really a good one.  President Porter called me just to see how all the new elders were doing and how the transfer went so that was a nice surprise.  That first transfer went by so fast it was unreal!  It's crazy how fast time is here out on the mission.  I've already been out for two months it feels like i just got my call a week ago.  But no there weren't any baptisms this last weekend and this next week is stake conference so we can't than either.  But we have 4 people set right now and they all look really solid.  I'm very excited for everything that's coming up, this area is wonderful!  Probably the most beat up part of New Zealand, I'm not getting the beauty like other missionaries are right now but the people are just so wonderful here i love it!! 

Every day here is very hot now, perfect beautiful tropical weather.  And you are all in snow now am i right?  Feel bad for ya! haha I'm gonna have Christmas in the middle of a hot summer in the Pacific! That's so crazy!  I'd rather have this than snow though that's for sure!  The days here are very busy, were on bikes all the time.  Missionary work is so much fun.  It's honestly like the call letter states when it says as you serve with all your heart, mind and strength you will receive happiness that you have never known.  It really is true.  There's nothing like serving the Lord's children. I miss you all very much and loving hearing from all of you.  This mission experience so far has been really unique.  I've taught and met so many different people from different places.  It's been a lot of fun I love it.  The culture is so beautiful here too.  There really is nothing to complain about here, everything has just been going really good.  I've been learning so much and have been having such wonderful experiences and memories.  I'm growing so much as a person, every young man should truly go on a mission as the prophet implores.  I really beleive this is when a boy becomes a man.  In just these few months i have learned more than any other time of my life.  This short time has already changed my life forever.  So ya things are going great here and i miss and love you all very much! Kia Kora! Be strong and have a wonderful week! I love you all!  I Tangariko!